One of the important historical attractions in the city of Copenhagen is the royal Christiansborg Palace, located on the island of Slotsholmen. The founder of the castle in 1167 was Bishop Absalon, who was also the founder of Copenhagen itself. In 1249, the castle was occupied and burned by the army of Lübeck, with which Denmark waged trade wars. Over time, Copenhagen Castle was restored, but in 1369 the army of the Hanseatic League burned it down again.

During the reign of Christian VI, the Baroque Christiansborg Palace was built on the ruins. Construction was completed by 1745. In 1794, the castle burned down again. The second construction of Christiansborg began, and the entire royal family moved to Amalienborg. The architect Hansen was invited to restore the castle and new construction began in the strict style of French classicism. In 1828, the construction of Christiansborg was completed. However, the family of Frederick VI did not want to move into the residence; the Danish Parliament was placed there, and the castle was also used for parties. From 1852-1863, monarch Frederick VII lived in Christiansborg; in 1884, the castle burned down.

The third and last architect of the castle was Torvald Jogenson, he built it from 1907-1928 in the neo-Baroque style. The roof was originally covered with tiles, but in 1938 it was replaced with copper sheets. On the spire of the castle there is a weather vane in the form of two crowns. A wonderful addition to the castle was the equestrian statue of Christian IX in the square by sculptor Karl Nilsson. During construction, fragments of the masonry of Bishop Absalon's castle were found.

Today the castle houses the Royal Residence, the Royal Library, the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Office of the Prime Minister. The rest of the castle houses a museum.

Located in the very center of Copenhagen on the small island of Slotsholmen. The palace contains not only the state royal apartments (in which the current Queen of Denmark receives high-ranking guests; by the way, this is the only place I came across in Europe where photography was strictly prohibited). The Danish parliament, prime minister and supreme court also sit here.

Around the palace there are buildings of various museums, churches, ministries, the royal library, the old stock exchange and other interesting objects and attractions.

To make it easier to navigate the area during this photo walk, I recommend using the diagram of these places in Wikimapia.

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1. I walked around Copenhagen slowly and along a chaotic route, so I got to Christiansborg Palace on the first day only at night. I thought that this photo would go to waste (the top was cut off, the horizon was blocked, colored stripes from passing cars got into the frame), but then it turned out that I liked it more than others. During the day there are huge crowds of people here, and the cut off top is not a pity, because the tallest tower of the palace, unfortunately, was under restoration and was completely covered with scaffolding.

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2. In front of the palace there is an equestrian statue of the Danish king Frederick VII (19th century), famous for the fact that under him the first democratic constitution of Denmark was adopted. By the way, there are a lot of bicycles in Copenhagen. No matter how hard I tried to get rid of them, hundreds and thousands of them ended up in almost every frame. It is said that 37% of Koneng residents use a bicycle as their daily transport.

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6. Amagertorv square adjacent to Højbro square. In the background (to the east of the square) rises the tower of a church, which I still knew nothing about that evening, but later wanted to get to it and see it up close. Then it turned out that this was the Church of St. Nicholas (Sankt Nikolaj Kirke).

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7. Well, that’s enough with night photographs of these places. This photo shows the same squares of Højbro and Amagertorv, but during the day. In the background you can see the aforementioned tower of the royal palace in full height - all in scaffolding, and thousands of bicycles.

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9. Let's return to the island of Slotsholmen and go into the courtyard of Christiansborg Palace. This wing houses the Danish Parliament. The yard is narrow, it was impossible to turn around comfortably even with a wide-angle lens.

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10. Opposite the parliament is the Thorvaldsen Museum, a famous Danish sculptor. I haven’t been inside: Copenhagen has such a huge number of museums, palaces, and castles that it’s impossible to get around them even in a week, but I only had two and a half days.

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11. I decided to go into the royal royal apartments while the queen was not there. It's very beautiful and chic inside, but, unfortunately, photography is strictly prohibited. Therefore, this dull (compared to the interior) photograph near the entrance remained my only memory of visiting the royal apartments.

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12. After visiting the interior of the palace, I went to its courtyard - towards the center of the island. Surprisingly, the entire courtyard of this palace is a giant car parking lot, very unexpected for such a European country as Denmark. I barely found a point where thousands of cars didn’t fall into the frame (I hid them behind bushes and fence columns). Unfortunately, the tower of the palace church and some parts of the palace were under renovation in the scaffolding during my visit. It was not possible to inspect them and climb the tower.

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15. Archaeologists were able to secure the current palace on stilts made of monolithic reinforced concrete, and dug huge caves under it, where you can find fragments of walls and buildings that stood on this site several centuries earlier.

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22. Royal Library. On the left are the old historical buildings, the mega-building on the right is the modern “black diamond” building. I didn’t like it at all: it looks gloomy, blocks the entire view along the shore (even the street seems to pass under the building) and along the water.

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23. Modern banking districts across the south-eastern channel from the island of Slotsholmen. In the background is Christian Church (Christians Kirke). IMHO, a terrible combination of old and new, separately they would look much nicer.

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25. After these views, I hastened to retire to the courtyards of the historical building of the royal library. I liked it there much more than on the embankment: a beautiful red brick building, a lot of greenery, a fountain with ducks and monuments to all sorts of famous people.

Copenhagen has the incredibly beautiful island of Slotsholmen, where the famous Christiansborg Palace is located - a luxurious building built in the neo-Baroque style. The fate of the castle, frankly speaking, is not easy: over the years of its existence it burned down four times, but each time it was reborn from the ashes.

The palace was first erected on this island in 1167, and it was built by order of the legendary founder of the Danish capital. The castle was supposed to last for centuries, but did not last even hundreds of years - in 1249 it was burned by the army of Lübeck. The building was rebuilt again almost from scratch, however, it too suffered a sad fate - in 1369 it was again destroyed by the enemy army.

There have been ruins on Slotsholmen for about four centuries. And only in 1745, on the orders of Christian VI, who, apparently, was not too superstitious and was not afraid of history repeating itself, a luxurious palace was again erected here. In honor of the king, the new castle was named Christiansborg. According to surviving documents, it was built in the Baroque style. The majestic palace became the new residence of the monarch, but not for long - just half a century later, in 1794, it burned down again, then members of the royal family moved to Amalienborg. However, despite three fires, it was decided to rebuild Christiansborg again.

In 1828, the renovated palace was presented to the world: this time the architect was inspired by French classicism. However, the royal family did not want to return to it. The building was partially given over to the Danish Parliament, but receptions continued to be held in its halls. What happened next is not difficult to guess - in 1884, a fire broke out in the castle again.

Probably, the members of the royal family were masochists at heart, otherwise it is simply impossible to explain their decision to restore the castle again. In any case, Christiansborg was restored in 1928, this time in neo-Baroque style. This is exactly how we see it now, made of granite and copper.

During construction, ancient ruins were discovered. It turned out that this is all that remains from the very first castle built here. By the way, anyone can see them now - a corresponding exhibition is open, and a museum is located in the free premises. Its greatest pride is the Throne Room: the royal throne and its interior are the little that were saved from the last fire.

Girls will surely be delighted by the luxurious collection of antique clothing, and men will enjoy spending time looking at the exhibition of firearms. Book lovers should visit the royal library - more than 80,000 volumes are stored here. In addition, the museum tour includes a visit to the halls where distinguished guests are still received.

One of the most important historical attractions of the capital; palace located on the Danish island of Slotsholmen. This architectural complex was built during the reign of Christian VI and is an excellent example of Baroque. Although the first building on the site of the castle was erected on the initiative of Bishop Absalon back in 1167.

This palace did not last long, as it was burned down by the army of Lübeck in the 13th century. The restored Copenhagen Palace was burned again in the 14th century, but King Christian VI ordered the construction of a new strong castle in 1730, which was named after him. Christiansborg means "Christian's Castle" in Danish. The main architect of the building was E. D. Heuser.

At the end of the 18th century, the castle was damaged by a strong fire, so the royal family settled in Amalienborg for a while. The restoration of the castle was entrusted this time to the visiting architect K. F. Hansen. The chosen style was close to French classicism. Frederick VI did not want to live in the renovated castle, but used it to receive guests. The only monarch who agreed to live in it was Frederick VII.

Since 1849, the Christiansborg building has been used as the seat of the Danish Parliament. In the first half of the 20th century, the palace was rebuilt, resulting in a pseudo-baroque style. Today, the luxuriously decorated royal reception rooms are open to public visits. Here you can see colorful tapestries, valuable paintings and sculptures, and a palace chapel.

The names of the new monarchs of Denmark are announced from the balcony of Christiansborg. In the square at the entrance stands an equestrian statue of King Christian. Lovers of high art can visit the Court Theater and Museum. Thus, for more than eight centuries, this castle has been the center of political and economic power of the country.

There are long canals around the structure. Eight picturesque bridges connect the city of Christiansborg. Geographically, it is located in the old part of the city. You can get there by metro, buses or water transport.

Photo attraction: Christiansborg Castle

About the castle

Christianborg Palace is a Copenhagen landmark that has more than 800 years of history. It is located on the palace island, surrounded by canals, the total length of which is two kilometers. The palace is connected to the city by eight bridges spanning the canal. The palace, built of granite and copper, looks like a powerful and commanding building. It is not for nothing that for eight centuries it has witnessed political battles, being the center of political power and uniting the royal, legislative and judicial powers of the state.

The interior decoration of the palace is impressive with its spaciousness and richness. Here visitors will see the throne and banquet halls and the royal library. The greatest effect is produced by the Great Hall, which is forty meters long and has a ceiling height of ten meters. Its walls are decorated with 17 tapestries depicting key moments in Danish history. Since this palace was built on the site of an ancient fortress, going down into its basements, you can take advantage of the unique opportunity to see the ruins of this fortress.

In the courtyard of the Palace there is a beautiful garden with varied vegetation that changes seasonally. Also in the courtyard is an equestrian statue of Christian IX, created by sculptor Annie Mary Carl Nielson.

On the territory of the palace there are buildings of the theater museum and the royal Arsenal museum, working royal stables and an exit parade ground. In museums you can get acquainted with collections of ancient clothing, firearms and carriages.

Currently, tourists can visit Christianborg, where during excursions they can get acquainted with the halls in which ceremonial banquets are held and high-ranking guests are received, with the Royal Library, with exhibits of the Arsenal Museum and other attractions.

Construction

Due to the fact that Christianborg Palace was rebuilt more than once, its architectural features also underwent changes. The original style in which the palace was built was Baroque. The calling of this style was to glorify absolute monarchical power and exalt the church. Features of the Baroque style are dynamism and curved lines, maximum expressiveness and heaviness of forms, sophisticated decor and decorative pomp. Architectural structures in this style were a demonstration of the wealth and prestige of their owners.

The castle, restored after the first fire, had the style of strict French classicism. The modern Christianborg Palace was built in the neo-Baroque style, which borrowed from the Baroque the curvaceous shapes and lighting effects, as well as the curved lines and bright colors.

Currently, Christianborg Palace houses the Royal Residence, the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Office of the Prime Minister on its premises. The free part of the Palace works as a museum.

A street and square in Copenhagen are named in honor of Bishop Absolon, who built the first castles on this island and was the founder of the city. Several sculptures are also dedicated to him.

History of construction

The first buildings of the palace were erected at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The construction of the palace was carried out on the site of a fortress, which was built by the founder of Copenhagen, Bishop Absalon. During its existence, the palace was repeatedly rebuilt and restored.

The island on which Christianborg Palace was built was formed after digging a canal that separated a peninsula located in a sea bay from the land. Bishop Absalone built a castle on this island in 1167, which was not destined to stand for long. At that time, Denmark was in a trade war with the Lübeck army. The castle was besieged in 1249 by an enemy army and burned.

The restored castle suffered the same fate: it was burned in 1369 by the troops of the Hanseatic League.

The first version of the current Christianborg Palace was built on the ruins of these two castles. Its construction was planned by King Christian VI. The author of this project was the architect Elias David Hauser, who was invited by the king. The castle stood in this configuration until 1745, when it was again destroyed by fire.

This time the restoration of the burnt castle was carried out by the architect Hansen. Construction of the second version of the castle lasted from 1803 to 1828. And again there was a fire, which in 1884 completely destroyed the castle.

The third version of Christianborg has survived to this day. Its author is the architect Torvald Jogenson, who managed to win the competition to build this palace. This version of the palace was built in twenty-one years (1907-1928). It originally had a tiled roof, which was later replaced with copper sheets. The castle spire is decorated with a weathervane of two crowns. The tower of the modern palace reaches 106 meters; Copenhagen has no taller structure.

Founders

The founder of the first version of the Christianborg Palace is King Christian VI. The years of his reign were marked by the imposition of a harsh spiritual regime on the entire country. He led a strict and extremely quiet life, but nevertheless left behind significant debts for that time. This is explained by his passion for building grandiose palaces.

By the time construction work was completed after the first fire at Christianborg Castle, the throne was occupied by Frederick VI. But he did not want to live in this castle. The castle was used only for receptions. The Danish Parliament was also housed in the castle building. The free rooms of the castle were used by Frederic VI for administrative purposes.

Frederick VII was the only monarch who lived in Christianborg. Construction of the latest version of the castle, which has survived to this day, began during the reign of Frederick VIII, who focused on the country's defense capabilities. Moreover, the World War was approaching.

Information for tourists

Several types of excursions are organized:

• Kings of Christiansborg - magnificent halls, ruins. Includes a tour of the court theater, royal housing, Christiansborg Castle, as well as a visit to the premises of the palace, the banquet hall with Bjorn Norgaard's tapestries. Duration of the tour: 120 minutes. Price: 95 CZK per person.
• Ruins - a castle on a castle. Duration: 50 min. Price: 30 CZK per person.
• In the footsteps of Caroline Matilda - madness, power, love and death. Includes visits to Christiansborg Castle, royal stables, theater museum, court theater, etc. Duration: 90 min. Price: CZK 95 per person.